Improvement in mowing-machines



y llniml. ,States geteld Gemine. y.

GEORGE F. SHAW, OF WEST ROXBURY. MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent'Nl. 107,108, dated September 6, 1870.

IMPRQVEME T IN' ,NIO'WING-MACHINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making pari: Of the same To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE F. SHAW, of West Roxbury, in the county ot' Norfolk and State of Massaclnlsetts, have invented an Improvement i'n Mowing-Macbines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accmnpanying drawing making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective View .of a 'mowing-machine, with my improvement applied thereto. f

Figure 2 is a vertical section through rthe same in front of the wheels, and looking in the direction'of thc arrow. Y

`In mowing-machines as heretofore constructed, the rapidand instantaneouschanges in the direction of the motion oi' -the cutter-bar, as it is operated by the 'throw of the pitinaii, produce a jar or vibration of the machine which is extremely unpleasant t0 the rider, and also causes a considerable amount of wear,

this vibration being dile to vthe shock produced Aby suddenly arresting-.the cutter-bar at cach end of its traverse, and starting it in the opposite direction.`

My invent-ion has for its-object to overcome this ditiiculty, and consists in operating the 'cutter-bar by means oi' a crank, provided wit-h a spring, which conf stantly keeps an ovalgnide attached to the cutter-bar in contact therewith, to enable it t0 betraversed thereby, the crank-shaft revolving in bearings attached to the cutter-bnr, by which construction, should any shock occur by the crank moving the cutter-bar in either direction, it is received by the bearings of the crankconnected with the linger-banwhich thus counteracts and equ'alizcs the strain, so that no vibration or shock is connnunicat-ed to the machine.

To enable 'others skilled in the art to understand and use iny invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

in the said drawing- MQW- A represents the finger-bar of a mowing-machine, and

B its cutter-bar, to which are att-ached the knives or cutters c.

The power to operate the cutter-bar is transmitted fmm the wheels O O to a sbaf't,b, which drives a pulley, D, on its ibrwariLeinl.

Over this pulley D and another, E, passes a belt,

G, which drivesthe crank H, secured to the shaft ot the pulley E.`

The crankshaft revolves in bearings c,'secured to the finger-bai-while the crank plays around in contact with the interior of a hollow oval guide, I, se-

-, cured to the.cutterbar, the throw 0f which is cush-v ioned by the pressure of a spring, d, surrounding a pin, e, which lits loosely and slides within a hole made in the crank for its reception. The spring constantly keeps the guide snngl y up to the crank, as required.

The cutter-bar moves from the centerto the end of its stroke in either direction, the greatest pressure being exert-ed bythe spring when the crank is in the position seen in fig. 2, -'or that diametricallyopposite, which thus serves to cushion the stroke, the shock' produced by the cutter-bar being received by the crank-shaft, and being transferred to its bearings, and

thence to the finger-bar. 

